From what I'm hearing these new pots can't hold a candle to the older ones....they get too hot. I have a Rival which is proberably at least 35 yrs old and it still works great. Does not over cook food if it is cooked 8 hrs like the new ones do and I use the slow cooker liners for easy clean up. I hope by the time it quits the manufacturers take heed of all the complaints and adjust the temps lower on the newer ones. Or I croak before it does in which case I won't much care! lol

I bought the KitchenAid crockpot/slow cooker a year or so ago. I love it! It's large but I'm always cooking for several people so the size is great for me. The only problem is storage. I love the fact that it has several different tempeture settings and I have complete control of the tempeture. It was more expensive than other brands but in this case I believe the money does make the difference

I totally agree with justyouandme about the older Rival crock pots. Mine is harvest gold from the 70's and I love it. When it goes I'm looking at the thrift shops and yard sales for a new one in fact I should start looking now. I bought a brand new pretty one and never took it out of the box so I gave it to my son when he moved out because I can't part with the oldy but goodie. Sometimes I wonder what they are thinking? These new ones are all probably mass produced in China and all they do is put in a heating element with no control over how hot it gets? Could be wrong but I can't say I have heard one good thing about the new wave of crock pots except the kitchenaid wombie got, worth looking into.